I found and sat next to our friend Mr. Ameen Hassan Omar at lunch. I wanted to talk to him to see where his aligations that the International Crises Group is a biased source and that they should never be trusted.

He obliged and explained his position more fully:

He claims that the ICG has conducted seminars in London about Darfur in the Haulocaust memorial, meaning, (to him) that they are Jewish Zionists against Sudan’s Islmamic government specifically. It is a conspiracy, he contends, against not only Sudan and Darfur but the whole Muslim world.

When I suggested that their holding their seminar at the Haulacaust memorial might be because they wanted to draw attention to parallels, he scoffed. It’s the Jooze!

I once had a similar thing happen. I was telling a family member of a friend about this great teacher I once had, when he goes “Hmm…that sounds like a Jewish name…”. “Yes, he is Jewish” I replied, only to have him say something along the lines of “Beware! Those caniving Jews!”

I would have said something to him but I was over at a friends house for dinner and didnt want to make a scene. And if I remember correctly, the rest of the dinner table muttered in the affirmative while nodding their heads, meaning if I did start a 1:10 debate, by the time I got to “pass the kafta please” it would have been really awkward…

Didnâ€™t want to make a scene? I would have never pegged you as a shrinking violet about your beliefs after some of the rants you have displayed here.

Yes M, that is quite surprising isnt it? hehe. You see what was at play that day was the concept of ‘respect’, as in, dont tout your geo-political views over a dinner table at a friends for the first time, especially with classical music playing in the background. Ooo, that would have been in bad taste eh? Anyway, perhaps with that concept in mind you are now less astonished than before. Maybe its just a cultural thing. :biggrin:

Oh while we’re on the subject – tell me M, do you view all discussions that fall on your ears as simply “rants”, or just the ones you dont understand?

Nice to see you have as many faults as the rest of us.

Hehe, well, I can assure you that like everyone else the planet, I put my pants on one leg at a time. But im flattered to see that you had me placed on a pedestal all this time M! Thanks! I would have never guessed! :biggrin:

Youâ€™re right; canâ€™t do stuff that would be in bad taste. It might ruin your image, and we all know how important that crap is to some people.

So were these new found friends that you didnâ€™t feel comfortable enough to be honest with? All for a little wine and music, thank goodness there was no dancing involved; or was there? I can certainly understand your desire to impress them with your wit and oneness against the Joooz; itâ€™s the least you can do to entertain â€œyour friendsâ€.

â€œOh while weâ€™re on the subject – tell me M, do you view all discussions that fall on your ears as simply â€œrantsâ€, or just the ones you dont understand?â€

This Jew hatred was around and thriving before modern day Israelâ€™s founding. Why? I am assuming that the MEâ€™s acceptance of outlandish conspiracy theories has been around as long. Before anyone says it, yes we sure have a lot of people here in the US that accept outlandish conspiracy theories also. Truthers for instance.

Youâ€™re right; canâ€™t do stuff that would be in bad taste. It might ruin your image, and we all know how important that crap is to some people.

Ooo I hit a nerve! hehe!

All for a little wine and music, thank goodness there was no dancing involved; or was there?

Naa… not too much dancing.. in fact I do think they could have used some more entertainment. Oh I know! Since you yourself dislike etiquette because it might – just might – improve your ‘image’, ill invite you over next time! I think a lady without class makes for excellent entertainment. Plus you wouldnt have to act – you could just be yourself. :biggrin:

I can certainly understand your desire to impress them with your wit and oneness against the Joooz; itâ€™s the least you can do to entertain â€œyour friendsâ€.

Accusing me of being an anti-semite by falsely claiming “I impress people with my oneness against the joooz” is a (new) low on your part M.

This spat is good. And hey! You’re even getting to vent all that pent-up anti-Ibn steam you’ve built up over the months. Better here, than you snap one day and make a fool out of yourself over an in-law’s dinner as you madly do laps around the table screaming with your mouth full that you dont care about image.

But if you are going to accuse me of racism, then prove it, or shut your trap.

And here’s one more lesson on the topic of ‘respect’ which elludes you:

I am going to kill this way-off-topic tangent that you started by not responding to your childish (but entertaining) spats, as of this post. I understand that you may have an ax to grind with me, but out of respect to Mahmood and his blog, as of this post I wont be party to anymore responces to your off-topic pollution. (On-topic pollution is a different matter).

Its true there is quite a bit of anti-semitism in the arab world, but to be honest, I feel its rather justified. I mean, ppl see wt is happening to Palestinians everyday on the news. Events like the murder of Mohd aldhurra and others haunt many of us. The world , i.e. UN, remains passive. Therefore, average joe needs a logical explanation, and since there isn’t one, then think conspiracy. Now, I do not think the Jews are behind Darfur, I just understand why some ppl might think so….

Wot, Remember the Jooz were behind the sinking of the Titanic back in 1912. Bloomberg, Solberg, Iceberg, what’s the difference . . . :whistle:

Don’t you just hate narrow minded people with dodgy adgendas. Ibn, I agree with you that there’s a time and place for every argument. Keeping quiet at that juncture was not weakness, but was tactical. Better to pick the battles when you have an edge.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t like them and don’t care for them (although I do enjoy the occasional Jeffery Archer book).

There are many powers at play in Darfur. It would be rather naiive to assume that Israel would certainly not be involved, directly or indirectly. It would also be absolutely ignorant to think that this entire issue of Darfur was a result of ‘Jews’ or anyone else other than the people of Sudan and their government.

Darfur is very similar to Afghanistan where the Sudanese government acted like the US government by supplying militia groups with weapons and training to fight rebels. The militias grew too strong for their own good. Now it’s out of hand. This is a gross oversimplification, mind you. It’s just the best way I can describe it to people so they can get a quick overview of the problem.

Israel has an interest in an unstable Sudan. It’s a natural interest — very much like every Arab nation has an interest in an unstable Israel. Now, whether that interest translates into concrete action, covert or not is a whole other story. I would certainly not make such claims — but it is fairly common in Sudanese communities to make such allegations.

I do remember once buying my own father “Tuesday’s with Morrie”. I thought it was the kind of book he would enjoy. He did such it was ‘nice’.. but his strongest point was, “He’s a Jew.” As if that settles the entire argument. I am talking about a highly educated, highly intelligent man. Not your average Joe by any means. Not because he is my father, but this is the kind of expert (in his field) that people from all over the world want to see. I would dare say he is brilliant at what he does.

Point is, it’s just a general sentiment and emotionalism that is gripping the Sudanese psyche about their political problems.

Compare notes by doing the same search replacing “Israel” with another country of your choice.

You will see that Israel is wrestling with its moral responsibility to grant asylum to 300 Darfur refugees, even though they are from an ‘enemy state’. They had fled to Israel because they knew, or feared for their life, that if they fled to an Arab country, they would be returned home to certain death.

Sorry Mahmood, I know you don’t like me exclusively ‘popping up in defence of Israel’ – but then I have popped up on other subjects too – like Arab athletics and in support of you 🙂

Let’s Connect

Bahrain Blogs

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is an interesting read. It provides a different interpretation on the reasons for success and emphasises the fact of how wrong the adage “self made man/woman” is. Gladwell argues that success is never overnight but is deeply dependent on several factors from culture, society, education, and even the year of birth […]

Tom Hanks doesn’t much act in his movies and is not type-cast. He is just a naturally good human being! That’s the simple fact, and his writing completely confirms this too. As I read his stories in Uncommon Type, I was almost urging him to put in some drama at this point, or do a […]

The Book of Joy is a life changing book. Do you believe in serendipity? I certainly do after picking up this book. It was like the universe was aligning just at the right time, and presenting me with this book because I needed its teachings most. This book was bought by my lovely wife while […]

Yoga was one of those things that I thought house-wives and mystics would while away their time in. The images I saw on the internet certainly supported this view. It’s no surprise that I veered away from Yoga. I’m a healthy and strong individual dedicated to an all-round gym experience, through this hard work, I […]

I’ve let myself go over the past couple of months and my weight has been creeping up. Well, I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks to Scotland and it was a bit stressful at work the last few months. Note that I’m not beating myself up for this. This is nothing to the […]

Not many people understand depression, including me. I found this on TED that might contribute to a better understanding. Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world; in the United States, close to ten percent of adults struggle with the disease. But because it’s a mental illness, it can be a lot harder […]